Carbon bandits steal $39 million from EU registries

The EU carbon market was started in 2005 and intended to be a model for a future global carbon program.

The European Union, whose decision to suspend registries halted the region’s spot carbon-emissions market following the theft of permits, said it won’t lift restrictions until member states step up identification checks.

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The European Union, whose decision to suspend registries halted the region’s spot carbon-emissions market following the theft of permits, said it won’t lift restrictions until member states step up identification checks.

The European Commission, the Brussels-based regulator, was discussing new security measures today with the bloc’s 27 national governments. It suspended most operations at Europe’s 30 registries for greenhouse-gas emissions on Jan. 19 after a Czech trader reviewing his $9 million account found “nothing was there.” The EU estimates permits worth as many as 29 million euros ($39 million) may be missing.

EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said after the meeting she was satisfied that the bloc’s member states showed “unanimous understanding of the seriousness of the situation” and the need to ensure “optimal security” before their registries are allowed to resume operations.